Conversation 對話

Can you describe what kind of person you were?
I was a person you probably wouldn’t like to have as a friend.
Why?
I was in and out of jail so many times.
How many?
I lost count.
你能描述你是個什麼樣的人嗎?
我是個你可能不喜歡當作朋友的人。
為什麼?
我曾進進出出監獄很多次。
幾次?
我數不出來了。

Do you remember the first time you were in jail?
I stole two books when I was about twelve.
Why did you steal books, not money or other things?
Because I wanted the books and I had no money to buy them.
What books were they?
A dictionary and an encyclopaedia.
Why them?
Because I love reading so many things in the encyclopaedia, and there were words I needed to check up in the dictionary.
You love reading books?
Don’t get me wrong! Don’t think I couldn’t read because I was a criminal. I have always loved reading, reading all kinds of books, magazines, newspapers, anything I could get hands on.
你記得你第一次入監獄嗎?
在我十二歲時我偷了兩本書。
你為什麼偷書，怎不偷錢或其他東西?
因為我想要書卻沒錢買。
偷了什麼書?
一本字典和一本百科全書。
為什麼偷那兩本?
因為我很想要讀百科全書中的許多東西，而裡面有些單字要查字典。
你喜歡讀書啊?
別搞錯了!別以為因為我是個犯人我就不會讀書。我一直都很喜愛讀書的，讀各種書啊、雜誌、報紙、任何我能拿到的我都讀。

Can you tell me something about your childhood?
Well, my childhood, not much to tell really. My parents died when I was a baby, and the next of kin was my father’s cousin, he put me in an orphanage then emigrated to Australia after the war, that was all.
How long did you stay in the orphanage?
Oh, about thirteen or fourteen years.
你能告訴我一些關於你的童年嗎?
喔，我的童年啊，真的沒什麼好說的。我父母在我是個嬰兒時就去世了，跟我最近親的人是我父親的表弟，他把我送去一家孤兒院然後就移民去澳洲了，那就是全部了。
你在孤兒院待多久?
喔，大概十三或十四年吧。

Can you describe your life in the orphanage?
Orphanage is not like a family home as you know; I got a roof over my head and some food, that’s all, of course I had to do work as I grew older. Cleaning and looking after younger kids.
你能描述你在孤兒院的生活嗎?
孤兒院不是像你所知道的家那樣的，我頭上有個屋頂也有食物(不必受風吹雨打與飢餓)，就只那樣了，當然當我長大些時我就得做工了。做些打掃的事與照顧較小的孩子。

Were you going to school then?
Yes, but only because the school had many books to read. I told you I love reading, didn’t I? In the school I would hide in the toilet or at the back of the bike shed to read books. Teachers used to get very angry and I would be punished, so I started to “borrow” books to take back to the orphanage. But before long the teachers realised many books were missing and I was thrown out of school.
你那時有去上學嗎?
有，不過那只是因為學校裡有很多書可讀。我跟你說過我喜歡讀書，不是嗎?在學校我會躲在廁所裡或腳踏車棚後面在讀書。老師常會很生氣而我就得受處罰，所以我就開始“借”書帶回孤兒院。可是不久老師就知道很多書不見了而我就被趕出學校了。

Did you take all the missing books?
Yes.
What happened to those books? How many?
About a dozen, I hid them under the floorboard. I found a space under a loose floorboard inside the storage room one day when I was told to clean up the storage room, so I put a bucket on that floorboard to stop other kids finding it.
What did you do with the books?
I read them over and over whenever I got a chance.
What kind of books were they?
Some were children’s stories like the Brothers Grimm and Andersen’s fairy stories, but “Treasure Island” was my favourite. Later on Shakespeare’s plays became my obsession.
Oh? Why?
I love the richness and the beauty of the language flowing through his stories.
你有拿那些丟了的書嗎?
有。
那些書後來怎麼了?有多少本?
大約有一打吧，我把它們藏在地板下面。有一天我被叫去清掃儲藏室時我發現儲藏室裡在一片疏鬆的地板下有個空間，所以我就在那片地板上放個水桶免得其他的孩子發現。
你把那些書做什麼用?
我只要一有機會就讀了又讀。
那些是什麼樣的書?
有一些是小孩的故事像格林兄弟的和安徒生的童話故事，但是我最喜歡的是“金銀島”。後來莎士比亞的戲劇成了我最熱愛的。
喔?為什麼?
我很喜歡那種豐富而優美的語言流暢貫穿他的故事。

Oh. You said that you have been in a jail many times, what other crimes have you committed?
Mostly stealing books or money. I left the orphanage when I was about fourteen. I couldn’t find any work and had to sleep rough, eventually I found I was better off in jail, at least I would get a bed and free food, you can’t imagine how tough life can be on the street particularly in the winter. So I would commit a crime in order to get in jail, but I never hurt anyone and I only stole money from shops.
喔。你說你曾進進出出監獄很多次，你還犯了其他什麼罪?
大半是偷書或錢。當我十四歲左右時我就離開那孤兒院了。我找不到任何工作只好隨便混睡，後來我發現在監獄裡要好多了，至少我有張床和免費的食物，你無法想像在街道的生活尤其是在冬天是如何艱難的。所以為了進入監獄我就會故意犯罪，可是我從未傷害任何人而且我只偷商店的錢。

Are you saying you were not guilty?
Of course not, but I considered it was less wrong.
Why less wrong?
I always gave the books to charity shops after I’d finished with them, so other poor people could buy them cheaply. In a way the shops were forced to give a little charity to poor people.
你是說你沒罪嗎?
當然不是，但我認為比較沒過錯。
為什麼比較沒過錯?
我讀完書後總是把它們送給慈善商店，所以其他的窮人可以便宜地買。從某一方面來看(我偷的)那些商店是被迫給窮人做點慈善事。

Stealing is still wrong and against the law.
Yes, but it helped some people to read and gave me a chance to go to jail at tough times, if you were desperate you would think differently; anyway if I never stole from those shops, do you think they would ever give anything to the poor willingly?
Probably not. What was the last crime you did?
I stole a typewriter three years ago.
偷竊仍然是錯的也是違法的。
不錯，不過我偷竊能幫一些人有書可讀也給我一個機會在艱難時可入監獄，如果你被逼急了你就會有不同的想法﹔無論如何如果我沒在那些商店偷竊的話，你想他們有可能會情願給窮人任何東西嗎?
大概不可能。你最近犯的罪是什麼?
我三年前偷了一台打字機。

A typewriter?
I needed it. Who are you and why did you ask all these questions? I haven’t stolen anything since that typewriter.
I am a friend and I need to find out something about you.
Why?
一台打字機?
我需要用。你是誰又為什麼問這些問題?自從偷了那台打字機後我就沒再偷過任何東西了。
我是個朋友而且我得找些有關你的事情。
為什麼?

Do you remember your uncle, I mean that cousin of your father. Do you know what happened to him?
No, the orphanage told me that I was sent to them by my uncle, he told them that he couldn’t take care of me. Besides, he was going abroad to live in Australia or some country. I suppose you can’t expect a single man to bring up a baby, although I have always hoped to know him.
Did you ever have any contact with him?
你記得你叔叔嗎，我是說你父親的那個表弟。你知道他後來怎麼了嗎?
不知道，孤兒院的人告訴我說我是被我的叔叔送來的，他那時正要出國去澳洲或某個國家住。我想你總不可能期望一個單身男人來養大一個嬰兒吧，雖然我一直都希望能認識他的。
你跟他有沒有任何聯絡過?

No, oh, once he did send a big pack of toys to me, if you count that as a contact, I wished they were books though, but other kids in the orphanage enjoyed the toys nevertheless.
Was there a big panda in that toy pack?
Big panda? Yes, funny you should mention it, it was so strange for a panda to have an eye patch, no one wanted it, but I thought it was special, so I kept it for myself; that was the only toy I ever had, in fact I still have it with me, it’s like an old mate, how did you know about it?
Ah, you are the right person.
Right person for what?
沒有，喔，有一次他曾經寄給我一大包的玩具，如果你算那是個聯絡的話，可是我倒希望是書哩，不過雖然如此孤兒院裡其他的小孩卻很喜歡玩具。
在那玩具包裡有一隻大熊貓嗎?
大熊貓? 有啊，真巧你提起它，那隻熊貓有個眼罩真是奇怪，沒人要它，但我覺得 它很特別，所以我就把它留給自己，那是我唯一擁有的玩具，事實上我還留著呢，它就像個老夥伴，你怎麼知道它的?
啊，你正是我要找的人。
正是要做什麼的人?

Your uncle died three years ago, and in his will he left everything to you.
Oh? You know my uncle? You just said he died …
Yes, I am sorry; I am his friend and the executor of his will. You are to inherit over two hundred thousand Australian dollars.
He died …
Don’t feel too bad, your uncle was a quite decent man, he often regretted not contacting you earlier, but he worked hard to save this money for you.
It would have been better to have a poor uncle during the hard times.
Two hundred thousand Australian dollars is a large sum, enough to buy yourself books for a lifetime. Oh, why did you need the typewriter?
To type. I signed a contract with a publisher yesterday, they have accepted my first book. I received an advance payment of a hundred thousand pounds.
Congratulations! What is your book called?
“I did it myself”.
你的叔叔三年前去世了，在他的遺書裡他把所有的東西都留給你。
喔?你認識我叔叔嗎? 你剛說他去世了…
是的，很抱歉﹔我是他的朋友也是他的遺書執行者。你將繼承二十萬多的澳洲幣。
他去世了…
別感到太難過，你叔叔是個很寬大親切的人，他經常後悔沒早些跟你聯絡，但他辛苦工作存下這筆錢給你。
當我在艱困時若有個健在的叔叔那就會好多了。
二十萬多的澳洲幣是一筆大數目，足夠你買一輩子的書了。喔，你為什麼需要打字機?
打字啊。我昨天跟一家出版社簽了一個合約，他們已接受我的第一本書。我收到十萬英鎊預付金。
恭喜你! 你的書名是什麼?
“我白手成家”。